it's had more impact on the economy. >> yeah. americans cut back on spending last month and their income stayed flat and with more on that let's join ashley morrison of cbsmoneywatch.com. she's in new york city. ashley, are you there? good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frank and michelle. yes. we're keeping our eye on the "fiscal cliff" this morning and the markets are changing as we speak. but earlier this morning asian markets rallied on gains by exporters and year end buying. tokyo's nikkei gained .5% to close out a 7 month high while hong kong's hang seng also rows .5%. >>> on wall street, stocks ended modestly higher on homes of a budget deal and on encouraging economic reports. dow was up 36 on thursday. the nasdaq finished 20 points higher. >>> and president obama presented his plan to avoid the "fiscal cliff" to members of congress. the $4trillion plan includes $1.6 trillion in new taxes on upper income americans. $400billion in cuts to medicare and other entitlement programs. $50billion in stimulus spending and the